Baron Bo Gustaf Bertelsson Carpelan (25 October 1926 – 11 February 2011) was a

Finland-Swedish Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish ( sv, finlandssvenska; fi, suomenruotsi) is a general term for the variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population, commonly ...

poet and author. He published his first book of poems in 1946, and received his PhD in 1960. Carpelan, who wrote in Swedish, composed numerous books of verse, as well as several novels and short stories. In 1997, he won the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize, known as the 'little Nobel'. He was the first person to have received the Finlandia Prize twice (in 1993 and 2005). He won the 2006 European Prize for Literature. His poem, ''Winter was Hard'', was set to music by composer

Aulis Sallinen Aulis Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". Sallinen ...

. He also wrote the libretto for

Erik Bergman Erik Valdemar Bergman (24 November 1911, in Nykarleby – 24 April 2006, in Helsinki) was a composer of classical music from Finland. Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works (many of which he later prohibited from bei ...

's only opera, '' Det sjungande trädet''. Carpelan died of cancer on 11 February 2011. He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki. He was a member of the Finnish noble family Carpelan. Carpelan went to

Svenska normallyceum i Helsingfors Svenska normallyceum i Helsingfors (Norsen) was a Swedish school in the Kaartinkaupunki district of Helsinki between 1864 and 1977. The school was only for boys until 1974 when it became a co-educational school. History Svenska normallyceum was e ...

and then studied

history of literature The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

. He became Doctor of Philosophy in 1960.

Selected bibliography

*'' I de mörka rummen, i de ljusa'' (poetry collection, 1976) *''Urwind'' (novel, 1993) *''Berg'' (novel, 2005)

References

External links

1998 Interview with Bo CarpelanBo Carpelan in 375 humanists 28.03.2015, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki
1926 births 2011 deaths Writers from Helsinki Finnish writers in Swedish Finlandia Prize winners 20th-century Finnish nobility Finnish literary critics Nordic Council Literature Prize winners 20th-century poets Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery Opera librettists {{finland-poet-stub Swedish-speaking Finns 21st-century Finnish nobility